nbc's steve handles men reports from new york. >> reporter: president obama aimed his u.n. speech at american voters and at most muslims who he said do not hate. >> i would like to begin today by telling you about an american named chris stevens. >> reporter: the u.s. diplomat who loved libya but who was murdered there. his u.s. consulate in benghazi burned. >> there are no words that excuse the killing of innocence. there's no video that justifies an attack on an embassy. >> reporter: there was no sympathy from the president, but he called for a deeper look into the root causes of anti-u.s. muslim rioting and demanded muslim leaders do more now. >> it is time to marginalize those who, even when not directly resorting to violence, use hatred of america or the west or israel as the central organizing principle of politics. >> reporter: iran's president, ahmadinejad, called for elimination of israel. >> make no mistake, a nuclear armed iran is not a challenge that can be contained. >> reporter: israeli prime minister netanyahu publicly pushed president obama. he didn't. >> am